The Princess
- Markus was driving his car, it was rainig, he was going to his home town, "Golden Reef" for a reunion to pay respects for the four children that died ten year ago, those children were his little sister Emma and his friends, they escaped from home one night, it was winter and a blizzard occurred so nobody was able to search for them, their bodys were found in the forest, they died of hypothermia, they found Emma deep on the forest and alone, his three friends were found together, hugged to keep them selfs warm but the blizzard of that night was vicious as no other ever see in long time, the three were found very closet of the town, they almost made it.
Markus was filling the gas tank and buying something to drink, "You should be careful, i hear recently that some people have see monsters around the town" the woman of the counter said, that was new for Markus he had hear about the stories of the town when he was a kid, the abandoned prison that contains the spirits of the prisoners who were executed, the old house of the witch who locked the children in the closet for all eternity, the haunted mine in which a curse is put on anybody that touches the gold and the forest you can never come back from, but Markus never hear of monsters in the town, "Of course monsters don,t exist but i can tell you that something dangerus is out there, like a wolf or a bear, you should be careful", "I will, thanks for the warning" Markus answered.
Markus was going back in to the car when he feel weird like the world was spining, his ears were itchy but he feel normal again in just a few seconds, he got inside of the car and wait for a momento before drive, Markus continued the trip, he was almost there when something pass the road at great speed, he asumed that it was a deer but when Markus was about to drive again something else pass the road chasing after what pass before them, it look like was something of black color, maybe a wolf but Markus wasn,t sure because he could swear that those things chaising the first one weren,t touching the ground, ¿maybe they jump?, Markus wait a bit just in case anything else was going to get in the way of his car, after a moment he began to drive and reach "Golden Reef" without trouble but while this happen he was thinking in what he saw and realiced that the thing being chase look like it was of a blue color.
Markus didn,t want to go to the house of his parents, the true is that he didn,t want to be here, he just decided to come to not be disrespectful but he feel sorry for the three kids that died because his sister, Markus didn,t want to think about the bad things of Emma now that she was gone, so he just try to not remember his sister at all but in the end his mind always go back to those days, Markus decided to sleep in the car he would go to the reunion and leave as soon as he could.
Markus reach the place for the meeting he was wearing casual clothes, he saw most of the people with funeral clothes but he feel relieved when he saw a group of teenagers wearing casual clothes to, then he recogniced one person of the group, it was Claire, Emma best friend or that was what Emma always said in front of her or a adult, better said that was his little sister said about all of his friends, she call them friends only in public but Markus know the true, she use to said "You only need three friends, the smart of the class, the pretty of the class and the strong of the class", and she called herself the pupular of the class, every year that she had new classmates she made three new friends, but Claire break Emma schemes because she was all four things together smart, pretty, strong and pupular, plus Claire father was friend of our father, but his sister was a manipulator so she become Claire best friend just to made herself look good and use Claire like it was a glorified doll , Markus realiced what he was thinking and feel horrible, the persons that have left this world deserve some respect, but he couldn,t stop thinking it, and when the people of the reunion began to talk to him about how sweet his sister was, her amazing talents, Markus wish to said the true, this poor people didn,t need to cry for her, she was a little monster he wanted to said, but every time he think that he also think, "You are his big brother, she was just nine years old, you are the monster for believing that, she was your sister so you should have teach her to be a nice person not just criticize her bad behavior and do nothing about it, she would be alive if it wasn,t for you, all the bad things that she used to do were just harmless games", Markus stop to think about that last thing "harmless games" and laught at it, "Mom and dad aren,t at home so i am the highest authority i am the law, you would call me your majesty or princess" she use to said, if somebody saw this it would belive that the big sister was messing with the little brother, but he was the big one yet he was powerless agains her, he couldn,t say no to Emma and if he try he would be punish for it, some times he was so tired that he try to not pay attention to Emma, "Do what i said, or i will tell mom and dad that you were bad with me", Markus know who they would belive or at least who his father would believe, his mother was more neutral, "I am tired of do what you said, now get out of my room or I will give the princess a royal beating", he try to sound confindent but he couldn,t, she left the room and came back with the broom and hit him with it, she wasn,t to strong so he didn,t have marks to show to his parants, once she got so angry that jump on him and hit him on the rigth eye over and over again until a bit of blood began to came out of it, he tried to escape but he couldn,t, "¿Markus what happen to your eye?", Markus father said, "He fall and hit the doorknob" his sister said and Markus know that his father wouldn,t believe that it was his sister who did that to his eye, plus Emma was putting an ice pack on his eye so to the eyes of anybody this was a little sister helping his big clumsy brother.
"¿Markus is that you?" Claire said getting him out of his thoughts, "Hello Claire is nice to see you again", he and Claire had a good relationship, they spend together a lot of time because of Emma, "Oh my god, i almost mistake you with you father", the Markus of ten year ago would be happy of that affirmation, the Markus of the present was tempted to say if she was trying to insult him, but she didn,t have bad intentions so he left it pass, "Is this the famous Markus that everybody on the town keep speaking about" a woman behind Claire said, Markus saw other people get near him, "Yes he is, Markus this are my freinds from the institute, she is...", Claire stop when a man pushed her, Markus wish he didn,t recognize the man, or even bether he wish that the man didn't look almost identical to him, "You shouldn,t be here, my daughter is dead because of you", the man turn to face Markus "And you shouldn,t be talking to the killer of your sister", the people around began to notice the dispute because the man was talking like he belived that the people around him were deaf, "¿What is your problem?" a man next to Claire said, Markus father was openig his mouth when things got worst, Claire father punch Markus father "¡Your daughter is dead because you are a useless and incompetent human being, don,t dare blame my daugther for your errors!" Claire father said, Markus had enougth so he left the building, he was out for a few minutes whe the doors behind him opened violently, Markus saw his mother talking to his father, "Emma dead wasn,t anybody's fault, don,t come back inside until you relax and are ready to say sorry" his mother said and closet he doors, his father turn to see him, Markus didn,t want to be near him so he began to walk, "Yeah, run away like you always do, you are a shame for me", Markus didn,t turn around but he aswered "I can say the same of you, to think that once i wanted to be like you", "You maybe look like me Markus but you are not like me, you know even after i saw how much of a failure you were i didn,t care, i always belive some day you would do something that would make me happy of being call your father, but you couldn,t even protect your sister, that was what made me realize that i would never feel pround of call you my son", Markus had enought he began to ran without relize he was getting in to the forest.
Markus walk in the forest, it was very calm, all of this becuase of Emma, he remembered that night, he saw Emma getting out of the house, "What do you want" she said, Markus could hear Emma sob, that day Claire discovered all the lies that she said, Markus didn,t know what Emma was going to do, but Markus anger made him only focus on enjoying the moment, he would feel like a monster if he wasn,t blinded by the feel of satisfaction of see his sister suffer the consequences of her actions, "I just wanated to say to the princess to have fun", he could tried to stop her but ¿would she listen to him?, he could call his parents but he chose to do nothing.
Markus came back to the reality when he hear sounds of something moving on the forest, he saw a little girl runnig, ¿was she lost?, Markus went after her, but come across something else, he saw a human size wolf standing in two legs, Markus ran to the opposite direction, he tripped with something, he then saw a giant snake with a wedding dress and two arms, he try ran again but blocking the way there was a blue creature with four arms, fins, a big wide mouth , his chest was open showing a big red sack of meat, besides the blue creature he saw some type of gree goblin missing a eye and a big scar on the face, Markus start running as fast as he could, just to be surrounded by giant black bugs, with six wings, a sting of the size of a human arm, tendrils coming out of their mouths and one single big red eye on their heads, Markus had no scape but then the creatures from before began to t throw stones at the bugs, he saw the girl from before being chase by one of the bugs, he has to help her, he jump in to the bug, he and the bug fall down and Markus lost consciousness.
Markus wake up in a room, it look like a medieval throne room with people kneeling down in front of him, he got ouside, the people didn,t move, now outside the throne room he saw that he was in a castle, he saw other rooms with the creatures from before, but this rooms were different from the rest, the werewolf was in bakery eating muffins, the fishman was in a podium and was holding a big golden trophy, the snake with the dress was in a open field were a wedding was being celebrated, the snake was infront o fan altar holding some white flowers, the goblin room look more approprite to the castle, it was a prisión cell but it was made of a much more dirty and old stone that all the rest of the castle, was he dreaming, Markus notice the girl from the forest standing behind him, "Thanks for the help, and because you are a good person i bring you here, in here you can have all you want but you need to do what i said" the girl said, "¿Who are you?, the girl stay in silence for a momento, she opened her mouth but didnt said anything, it look like she was doubting, "I am Eleanor, but no more questions or i will have to take you out of here" she said and then she left, Markus came back to his room he was hungry so he ask the people inside to bring him foot and they did without questions, he tell to them that he was bored and they performed a puppet show, Markus was going to ask for more things when Eleanor entered the room, "I need your help, the monsters are back" she said, the people of the room began to scream and cry in fear, Markus know that he has to protect this people.
He and the creatures were now in the forest, the forest was covered in snow but it couldn,t be it was summer, he saw some type of tent and inside a bunch of robots with gas masks on, "You have to kill them or they will hurt m.... us" Eleanor said, Markus couldn,t fight with robots, ¿was she crazy?, "Come on, you are my knight in shining armor", she said, Markus look at himself, he had a armor on, he feel invencible, without thinking more about it he and the creatures attack the robot and destroy them in seconds, Markus didn,t have a weapon but he was able to break the head of the robots with his hands, he saw oil come out of thier opened heads, the creatures didn,t have problems, except the goblin that was just avoiding conflict, but a robot grabb him by the neck, Markus look at the floor and saw a sword, he stab the robot that attacked the goblin, he saw wires and oil fall from the robot, the robot turn a grabb Markus by the shoulders, but soon the robot fall to the ground.
They come back to the castle were Markus keep thinking on things he would like to have, but he notice the goblin watching him from the throne room entrance, "You shouldn,t trust your eyes" he said, "¿Can the others talk to?" Markus ask, "Yes, but they never do it, their minds are forever gone now, but that is not important, you can still escape from her claws", Markus look at himself he has his armor on, he wish for a mirror and it appeared from thin air, he look in the mirror and think, i could look even better, then a blue cape appeared on his back, why would he want to escape, "Look at me i want to show you something" the goblin said, when he look at him he saw a rotten body, his skin look grey, his hands were robotic, half of his face was covered in metal staples that hold his head together, inside his mouth he had a speaker, "Let me show you the true", he call the other creatures and one by one he show their true form, the werewolf turn into a decrepit head with a full robotic body, the snake was a woman with no eyes, her dress was covered in blood and the tail now was a long stump of metal, tubes and rotten flesh, the fishman now was a corps with broken bones piercing his skin, he had two robotic arms coming out of his shoulders, his real arms look weak and unable to move, metal bars on his back, his rib cage was opened up and inside it has a engine that had tissue wrap around it, Markus look at the walls of the mansion for seconds he saw what was under the illusion and recognized it has the old prision.
Markus ran to the forest, it wasn,t covered in snow, he reach the tent and saw normal persons in containment suits, the oil now was fresh blood, he saw were the robot he killed with the sword was, now there was a regular person with a branch that entered through the back and came out from the belly covered in blood and bowels, his head began to hurt, again the blood was oil and the snow was back, he got out of the tent and saw more robots with gas masks, he can hurt them they are normal persons but then the giant bugs appeared, they ignored the masked robots, "Is not real" Markus said to himself, then the robots and bugs moved to let something else get closer to Markus, it was a giant mass of something strange it look half solid half gas, like some type o toxic mud combined with deadly miasma, Markus saw the inside of the miasma and saw shadows changing form, to eyes, mouths and hands, Markus began to hear a sound it was rain, again the illusion was gone, the robots were humans in suits and the miasma was now a person to but he wasn,t wearing the containment suit, but something caught Markus attention, the giant bugs still look like bugs, he look infront of him, he need to look up to see the face of the person that was now instead of the miasma, the person was easy twice as tall that himself if no even more, the rain didn,t let him see the man clearly, but he know that he was in danger, instinctively Markus ran back to the prision, he look behind to see the tall man do a gesture with the hand and the bugs began to chase him.
Markus was now inside the prision, and saw a robot with red hair, gree eyes and a long neck, it looks like was going to hit the "goblin", but then the bugs began to get inside using the windows, the bugs launched the tendrils of their mouths and immobilized the red haired robot, then the bugs launched electric shocks using the tendrils, the "creatures" try to escape but the way was block by the persons in the containment suits, the tall man appeared, he had a black cloack that covered all his body from the feet to the neck, the place was dark so his face was not easy to see, Markus and the "creatures" try to ran to the other side but Markus look at the green eyes of the robot they look full of fear and then he look to the tall man he had white eyes they look soulless, the robot look powerless agains the tall man, Markus feel like he couldn,t left her alone, he come back just to be stabbed by the sting of one of the bugs, he feel something entering his body, "Kneel" the tall man said and Markus did, "Head to the ground" the tall man said and he place his head on the ground, the worst was that he feel like he wanted to do what he was saying, like it was his own decision to do it but it wasn,t, Markus hear the noise of something being ripped apart, "Looks like tried to be a hero has save you from the same fate that your friends" the tall man said, Markus saw the bugs holding the parts of the "creatures", now showing the inside full of bugs and disgusting yellow fluids, Markus turn to see the tall man, "Left her alone" Markus said, "Look at the knight in shining armor, she did this to you and you want to help her, but you don,t need to worry about her, i am going to make her be much more than she is or was" the tall man said, "There is a truck outside, get in and don,t do anything" and Markus did what he said.
Time pass, Markus wasn,t sure how much, he was restricted to a table, he saw what look like skeletons hang from the ceiling but it was to dark so he wasn,t sure, he had time to think about all his life and come to the conclusion that he deserves all of this, whatever this is, he thinked on all his bad actions and decisions but while he was thinking on the events that got him here something pass his mind, "She did this to you", ¿what was the tall man refering to?, Markus saw a light, he saw the tall man and a young woman holding his arm like she fear to fall and walking like she learned to do it now for the first time, the woman was holding a lantern in the other hand, "¿Tell me do you know him?, you can get closer he is harmless", the tall man said, a light above Markus turnd on, the tall man remain on the dark but Markus could see the light make his eyes shine, the woman had blond hair, a yellow dress and green eyes, Markus know those eyes, they were the same that Eleanor and the red haired robot, the woman use her hand to move Markus head, he saw that her nails were paint purple, "Eleanor, it's me, Markus" he said with all the streght that he had left, "¿Who is Eleanor? The woman said to the tall man, "You tell me, i have no idea" the man said, Markus could feel the happiness on the tall man voice "I am very sure that i would remember a mechanize corps, and i don,t know any Eleanor" she stop for a second and her face look worry "¿Should i remember it?", "No, the fact that you don,t know is good news, now follow me i want you to introduce you to someone else" he said, the tall man point at a door that said subject 1, the woman got to the door walking slowly and carefully while the tall man got closer to the table that Markus was in, his eyes look like could steal someone's soul, the man push button and from the floor a device appaered, "You don,t need to worry i will take care of her from now on", then the device perforated Markus head but there was no pain, Markus hear clicking sounds and then the device began to spin, even then no pain but Markus could feel liquid fall from his ears, he asumed that it was blood but from the hole on his head the liquid began to fall inside his eyes, it was yellow and smelled like dead, his vision blur because all the fluids and decompoposed bits of flesh falling inside his eyes, with the last visibility that he had he look at his hand and at first he belived he had his armor on but he realized that it was not an armor it was a robotic arm attach to a chunck of rotten flesh, before Markus could began to interlace the dots the divice made a final push and break through Markus brain completely and then all was gone for Markus.